My Favorite Holiday Movies: 2: Scrooge

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There are so many aspects of this holiday season that are wonderful to me: getting together with loved ones, friends and family alike (although this year on a very limited basis); the spirit of giving that I hope continues to grow; celebrations; the holiday music; and the memories of happy times.  Among the favorite memories I have are a few specific Christmas movies.

The movie I will talk about today is Scrooge with Albert Finney as the star; he does a magnificent job in his performance as the miserly and misanthropic loan-shark. This musical version of A Christmas Carol is one of the finest filmic adaptations of the classic Christmas Eve ghost story and morality tale.  This film follows  the story closely with Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, of Christmas Present, and of Christmas Future. Among the movies best songs are Scrooge singing “I Hate People” which clearly shows his despicable and greedy nature,  “Thank You Very Much” in which a tap dance is done on Scrooge’s coffin in the future, and “I Like Life” in which the ghost of Christmas Present teaches Scrooge about experiencing life as well as having empathy for others.

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This movie does an excellent job of showing Dickens’ critique of a greed based society and one that did little or nothing to help alleviate the enormous difficulties of the poor.  When first confronted by the ghost of his dead partner Marley, Scrooge tells him that he was always a good man of business.  Marley’s ghost responds, “Mankind should be our business.”  This is a sentiment that stands today.  We should be putting the good of humanity above the pursuit of greed.

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I was a teenager when this movie was first released in 1970, and I loved seeing it with two of my closest friends.  We were captivated by the music and the story, and it remains as powerful to me as when I first saw it. If you have never had the opportunity to see this particular film, I give it my highest recommendation.

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I also remind all of us, in paraphrasing the Master Charles Dickens, that we must always remember to make the good of others our business.

Quotations on Bigotry

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“What a sad era when it is easier to smash an atom than a prejudice.”

Albert Einstein

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“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

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“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

 

“Bigotry must never be accepted, must always be confronted, and must never become the way of our country. We must always recognize its past and the consequences of its present existence, and we should always strive to eliminate bigotry, in all forms, from the future.”

Charles F. French

R. I. P. Elijah E. Cummings

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America lost a great man today with the death of Representative Elijah E. Cummings from Maryland at the age of 68.

Mr. Cummings, a brilliant orator, was a tireless advocate for social justice, and he spoke for the causes of the poor and the left-behind in the United States of America. Among his causes were fights for health care and justice for all Americans, regardless of class, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.

He spoke of the need for civility in the government but also the absolute necessity for the government to serve the people’s needs. He battled for justice and against injustice. He advocated for the defense of democracy. He was a tireless American patriot.

He will be missed.

He was a great American.

R. I. P. Elijah E. Cummings

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Enough Is Enough!

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Edmund Burke

How many mass shootings will occur before we do something about it? Once again, a horrible shooting took place today in El Paso, Texas. The numbers that I have seen on television reporting are at least 19 dead and over 40 wounded. Once again, this horror occurs in America. Once again, we can expect those politicians who are in the control of the NRA to offer “thoughts and prayers.” Once again, we, as a nation, need to demand action.

Once again, we need to say in one voice, “Enough is enough!”

This is a uniquely American tragedy, not that it cannot happen in other countries, but the sheer numbers of incidents that do occur here make it part of the fabric of our nation.

We must not allow this to be normal, to hear it, be upset, and then just move on. This is wrong, this is evil, and this must not continue. The majority of Americans want some form of gun control. We must not simply want it. We must demand it. We must tell politicians that if they do not take action on gun control, we will vote them out of office. We must demand that they stand up to the corporate gun lobby and the NRA. We must demand that they understand and recognize human lives matter more than the sale of guns no one should have.

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Elie Wiesel

Let us speak out. Vote. Let your voices be heard.

Quotations on History

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“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

                                                                         George Orwell

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“Study the past if you would define the future.”

                                                                        Confucius

 

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“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”

                                                                        Edmund Burke

Quotations On Leadership and Change

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“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”

                                                              Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

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“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.”

                                                               Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

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“A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.”

                                                               Barack Obama

 

 

More Insanity and Horror–Another School Shooting

The American insanity with guns continues. Yet, another school shooting has occurred in Denver with at least one dead and seven others wounded.

I expect  that two things will happen: media coverage will decrease as we, as a society, become desensitized to these terrible events; and the other is that spineless politicians who are either afraid of the gun lobby or in their pockets will offer their thoughts and prayers. They will, however, take no action. They will simply hope that American citizens forget this latest tragedy, and they will treat the situation as normal.

This must end. I, for one, will never support any politician who does not support gun control laws. This horrible situation must change.

This is a call to political action: if you agree that serious gun control must be enacted, then do not vote for any politician, on any level, who does not support gun control.

Children, teachers, and parents should not have to face this insanity in our society.

If you agree with this idea, please tweet and reblog this post.

Quotations on Tyrants

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“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”

                                                                  Mahatma Gandhi

 

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“Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!”

J.K. Rowling Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

 

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“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”

                                                                           John F. Kennedy

Quotations on Integrity

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“I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”

                                                                       Lillian Hellman

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“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

                                                                       Marcus Aurelius

 

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“In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”

                                                                       Czeslaw Milosz

Teargassing of families and children–the stuff of fascism.

The Trump administration has ordered and defended the use of tear gas against families, against mothers, against children, and against babies. This is beyond reprehensible–it is evil, and it is the stuff of fascism, racism, and bigotry.

We must never become used to such abominable behavior. All of those who oppose these actions must speak out.

This must end.

Remember that we are all connected.

“No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee”

John Donne